Dead Man Running (28 page)

She was being pushed aside – the person who made all of this possible was being pushed aside and Jan Sugerfoot w
ould
not abide that. 

As a
nother
wronged
woman famously
declared
in Jan's favorite movie:
"I will not be ignored."

It also bothered her that all zombies were rumored to be as sex starved as her Ben.  In his
frequent
time away he certainly was taking advantage of all that undead pussy floating around.
 
Wasn't he?

She planned to confront Wiley as soon as she c
ould
get rid of this white heffa showing them this house.
  The woman was addressing Jan as the three stood in the kitchen.  "This is a professionally sized and equipped kitchen.   You have two sets of double ovens, a nook for an oversized refrigerator, a butler's pantry and additional food storage facilities adjoining." 

Jan nodded like she cared about all that stuff.  Her Ben didn't eat anything other than the unfortunate souls delivered to him every night by his army of followers.  She certainly didn't plan to cook anything – Wiley has a staff of undead maids and cooks waiting to satisfy any need she may have.

Finally they had seen the entire house.  The realtor led them back to the foyer.

"I'll give you two
some
time to wander around the house on your own.  Just be sure to lock the door once you leave."

"We'll take it," Wiley said.

A look of shock on the woman's face was quickly replaced by a
dim
smile
composed of tightly spaced teeth
.  She looked at Jan, then
to
Wiley and back to Jan. 

"You don't need time to discuss this?  It is one point two million dollars."

Wiley waved her away like
some
bothersome fly.  His hand held a business card.  "Give our lawyer a call.  He will make all the arrangements."  He handed the woman the card.

Moments later, after shaking hands with the excited woman, Jan and Wiley stood alone.

"Ben, we need to talk."

"Is it about this house?  I know we didn't discuss it but I am so anxious to give us a home in
Washington
."

"I know you are but the
re's
something else that I want to talk about."

He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips.  "There is something I want to discuss first," he said.  "As you know, I have been working with our friends in the
New York City
government and the courts to have my wife declared legally dead."

Jan nodded.  Given the fact that the mayor is one of her husband's 'disciple
s', it would take far less than
the typical five to ten years to get
the bitch declared dead.

"I've heard personally from Mayor O'Donnell.  A state judge has declared Eloise Burnham Wiley legally dead.  Now I feel free to take this step." 

Jan's breath caught as Wiley got on one knee.  He held the largest diamond ring
she had ever seen
in his left hand.  "I want you to be my wife.  Will you marry me?"

Jan felt the tears sprout from her eyes.  She nodded her head and cried like a baby as Wiley placed the impressive engagement ring on her finger.

She kissed him with a passion that she never felt before.  Quickly, the kissing led to the shedding of clothes
, then the two passionately ma
de
love overtop their coats in the foyer of a home that was claimed but not yet theirs.

Just a moment to explain sex with a zombie.  Contrary to popular belief, zombies are able to 'get it up'.  Being dead, they have a problem producing sperm so that they don't exactly fill up the condom.  But zombies do take pleasure in many things and sex is one of those things.  The fact that they also take pleasure in the first bite into a freshly killed human is not really their fault.

Afterwards they lay on top
of their
clothes, Jan drenched in sweat, her arms tight around Wiley.  "I want to be like you," she said.  Wiley looked at her, not understanding.

"I want you to kill me, bring me back as an undead.  I love you and want to be with you forever."

Wiley smiled, kissed her gently on her face, both cheeks before finding her lips.  "I love you too, Jan." 
H
e kissed her again.  "You must realize that you have a higher purpose.  God has placed you here for a reason and you must be patient until that higher purpose is revealed.  Can you be patient?  Can you trust in Him and me, His servant?"

Jan didn't fully understand but nodded anyway.  She loved this man and would wait for the time when her role is revealed.  She was never a Godly person but she would begin to pray that one day, she would die and be reborn to forever be by the side of her husband.  She kissed her fiancé deeply, which led to one more round of lovemaking. 

The sun was going down when they
finally
emerged from the house.  As they drove away in the limo, Jan's thoughts turned away from her husband's 'business', toward thoughts of planning her wedding.  She had to do it right, as befits the great man she
wa
s marrying.  That this man
wa
s
actually
dead never crossed her mind.

Several days later
Wiley, Mookie and
Mira
stood in a laboratory on the campus of the
University
of
Pennsylvania
.  Wiley's security detail – four 'men' strong – stood outside the room. 
Also i
nside were
Hamid
Hidar
and several Penn scientists, all experts in robotics, all converted to zombies to better assist with the project.

The lead scientist
, Joshua Allen,
spoke.  "Thank you, Secretary Wiley, for coming so soon.  I hope you will be pleased with what we have created."  Just days into his new role as HUD Secretary, Wiley was
very
busy but, upon word from his team researching his 'zombie bomb',
a means of converting souls in volume,
he quickly cleared his calendar. 

A quick ride up Amtrak and
a
brief taxi trip and he
had
made it
here in less than two hours.

"It will be very disappointing to have come all this way for nothing," Wiley replied.

"We believe that we have created effective prototypes that meet all your requirements.  You wanted a mobile delivery system that could efficiently kill in volume without harming the exterior of the subjects.  The system had to be capable of converting the dead to undead, with medicine, the so called blue liquid, to prevent deterioration of the subject's body
and to allow higher functionality
."

Wiley nodded and the man continued.  "James," Allen said and one of the scientists ducked into an alcove and returned with three white globes.

"We developed two delivery systems.  There are the globes that you see here and we have a version where multiple globes can be deployed from a drone."

"Don't you need a command center to control drones?" asked
Mira
.

"We have that," answered Allen.  "We have co-opted several labs at the university, installed the necessary equipment."

"Danger of detection?" asked Wiley.

"Minimal.  This is a huge university.  With the large grants provided from your network of contributors, the university is happy to stay out of our way.  Besides, we have converted my department head and the assistant provost, further protection to steer away any prying eyes."

"Excellent," said Wiley.  "Please proceed."

"The globes are heat seeking, attenuated to the exact human body temperature.  When deployed they will find the target human or humans.
"  Allen took one of the globes from his assistant, brought it closer to Wiley and the others.  "We've outfitted the globe with a rotating track that provides locomotion.  We've tested it to a maximum speed of forty-five miles per hour, more than fast enough to catch any human being."

"Vulnerabilities?" asked Wiley.

Allen handed the globe to Wiley.  "It is made entirely out of plastic, in the event we may want to evade metal detectors.   It can be easily destroyed but upon destruction, it will deploy its payload of darts.  Unless someone targets the device remotel
y with a firearm or ordinance, any
one close enough to do damage will be killed.
"
 

Wiley handed back the globe.  "Dr. Allen, make a note to develop a more hardened version of this device.  This is fine for civilians
in the
US
but as we introduce this device to less hospitable countries
we will need devices that are more difficult to stop.  Please proceed."

Allen stepped over to a laptop, hit some keys and a PowerPoint began to play.  "This
illus
trates how the device works.  Once it closes to within a meter of the target, it
s exterior will explode to release a shower of darts. 
The darts will travel up twenty feet, then rain down in a cylindrical formation, tips at a forty-five degree angle. 
Th
e
darts have been treated with both cyanide and the blue liquid.
  In the event the person somehow blocks the darts, there is a cloud of cyanide released from the device simultaneously with the darts.
"

"Is there enough of the blue liquid to be an effective preservative?"
Mira
asked.  She directed the question at her grandfather.

The elderly man nodded.  "I've played with the formulation.  I have made it significantly more concentrated so that the amount stored on the dart is sufficient."

Mira
nodded.  "Any impact from mixing the cyanide and
the
blue liquid?" she asked.

Allen and her father shook their heads.  "We've trialed the formula with nearly three dozen individuals thus far.  We've maintained contact, observing their level of deterioration.  All is normal thus far," the scientist replied.

Mira
looked at Wiley.  "I would like more time to elapse before we say that there is no conflict between the two substances," she said.

"We need to move forward, boss," said Mookie.  "This would come in handy with our plans to convert all th
e HUD
managers."

Wiley thought a moment, turned to
Mira
.  "Track those you have personally converted versus those converted with the zombie bombs.  If we see a pattern of deterioration or other abnormalities among those who were bombed, we'll make adjustments.  For now, we proceed.  Understood?"

Mira
nodded.  "I'll get the data from Dr. All
en and
begin tracking those he converted in his trials."

"Very good," said Wiley.  He gestured for Dr. Allen to proceed.

"The cyanide
hits the blood stream and
kills within fifteen minutes – there is unconsciousness, convulsions and finally death.  The body is fundamentally unharmed although the skin will have a lingering scent of almonds."

"I used to like almonds," said Mookie.

Allen smiled, continued. 
"The cyanide interferes with the red cells' abilities to extract oxygen, causing an 'internal asphyxia'.
 
The victim literally suffocates to death as he breathes in oxygen he cannot use.
"

Wiley turned to
Hamid
.  "How did you design in the transformative spell?"

"Your contacts at the FCC were very helpful in that regard.  There is a seldom used broadcast band – intended for use during times of national crisis – that we have been loaned for our purposes.  I have been recorded saying the spell and that recording is playing on a permanent loop emanating from
co-opted broadcast facilities across the country
.  Each globe, in its core, contains a device
tuned specifically to that transmission
."

"
The device is a
micro satellite receiver," Allen added.
  "Twenty minutes after the outer shell is breached – allowing sufficient time for the subject to die – the inner core opens and the device activates."

"
It
will play the spell, then the brief orientation welcome that you recorded," said
Hamid
.  "The device will
loop
the recordings continuously or until the now animated corpse turns off
or destroys
the
apparatus
."